John Reosti

Financial services providers in the region say they're ready to do their part rebuilding Southern California after a series of devastating fires. For many regional and community banks, initial fire-damage surveys identified limited impact.

The Green Bay, Wisconsin bank lost $164 million after selling $2 billion of loans and securities for a loss. Asset quality remains strong while the balance-sheet restructuring tees Associated up for a strong rebound this year, executives say.

The Bethesda, Maryland, company projects increases in loans and deposits as its C&I lending strategy gears up. Criticized and past-due loans appear to be declining even with a jump in nonperforming assets.

Mercantile Bank Corp. in Grand Rapids achieved a 20% increase in deposits in 2024, an amount that was ample enough to fund robust loan growth and scale back reliance on costlier wholesale funding.

The Columbus, Ohio-based bank's profit more than doubled in the fourth quarter from a year ago, with solid growth in loans and deposits.

The Pittsburgh-based company's fourth-quarter earnings increased more than 80% from the same period in 2023, beating analysts' expectations and leaving CEO Bill Demchak upbeat about 2025 prospects, though M&A likely remains off the table.

Mohit Ramani joins the Cleveland-based company next week. His predecessor, Darrin Benhart, will fill a newly created role as Key's chief regulatory officer.

Banks seeking to offload CRE assets are finding a receptive marketplace while regulators have managed to keep the situation in balance, observers say.

Clearfield-based CNB Financial's planned acquisition of ESSA Bancorp in Stroudsburg would create an $8 billion-asset company with 49 branches and nearly $5 billion of deposits in the Keystone State.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based company called its success in luring a team from Capital One as its most "newsworthy" move to date executing a strategy aimed at diversifying its lending operation.